Multiple intracranial meningiomas: diagnosis, biological behavior and treatment.
Multiple intracranial meningiomas (MIM) are a rare pathology when not associated with neurofibromatosis. The prevalence rate of those tumors varied from 2.3 to 8.9% of all intracranial meningiomas.


OBJECTIVE
To present, analyze and discuss the cases of seven patients diagnosed with multiple intracranial meningiomas, describing their clinical and histological characteristics, as well as their biological behavior.


METHODS
The patients records, surgical descriptions, imaging studies and the histopathological exams were retrospectively reviewed. This is the largest series of MIM publisted in Brazil.


RESULTS
This sample consists of five women and two men. The age varied from 42 to 84 (average 53.8). Twenty-two meningiomas were identified and varied from 1.5 to 192 cm(3), with an 62.8 cm(3) average volume. The number of procedures varied from 1 to 5 per patient. No surgical death occurred in this series.


CONCLUSIONS
Despite the multiplicity of tumors, number of recurrences, the new tumors, repeated operations and re-operations, radiotherapy and a number of postoperative complications, the patients experienced a long survival in conjunction with a fairly good quality of life.
Lynch
José Carlos
JC
Serviço de Neurocirurgia, Hospital dos Servidores do Estado, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. cneuroamericas@uol.com.br
Ferreira
Leandro Alcy Sales
LA
Welling
Leonardo
L
Schulz
Renata Cardoso
RC
D000328:Adult; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008577:Meningeal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008579:Meningioma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009378:Neoplasms, Multiple Primary / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D012189:Retrospective Studies